


Respite

by lifeaftermeteor



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Non-Binary Noin, Non-binary character, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Post-Endless Waltz, Post-Series, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:35:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25361758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeaftermeteor/pseuds/lifeaftermeteor
Summary: Noin, Po, and Une take some time away from their responsibilities and daily lives to take a much-deserved romantic retreat out into the woods.
Relationships: Lucrezia Noin/Lady Une, Lucrezia Noin/Sally Po, Lucrezia Noin/Sally Po/Lady Une, Sally Po/Lady Une
Kudos: 2
Collections: 2020 Gundam Wing Pride Event





	Respite

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the The [2020 Gundam Wing Pride Event](https://wingqueero.tumblr.com/). Some administrative notes upfront. 
> 
> [1] Une is referred to as ‘Anne’ repeatedly throughout this fic. I didn’t want to use Frozen Teardrop’s ‘Cordelia,’ but calling her ‘Lady’ or using only her surname would be the wrong vibe. 
> 
> [2] Lucrezia ‘Lu’ Noin is non-binary in this fic and so will be referred to as the non-gendered ‘they’ throughout.

The birds were awake. Their calls in the trees around their cabin brought Sally up and out of the pleasant darkness of sleep and into wakeful frustration. She groaned and buried her face in the soft warmth of a familiar body.

A body that was _also_ awake, judging by the muted chuckle. There was a gentle caress at her arm, barely fingertips, and a quick peck on her sleep-tousled hair.

With her eyes still stubbornly closed, Sally tossed a leg over her partner and reached an arm backwards, searching. She groaned again, disappointed, when she came back empty-handed.

“They went to make coffee.”

At this, Sally at last opened her eyes to find Anne watching her with obvious amusement. The light of the morning filtered through gauzy window curtains, diffuse and soft. Full of promise and warmth.

“I could’ve made coffee,” Sally grumbled, scrubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Lu makes _good_ coffee,” Anne countered.

Sally smirked at this, thinking back to their first morning in the cabin and her failed attempt at using a French press. “You mean you _don’t_ like picking coffee grounds from your teeth all day?”

“Not particularly, no.”

“Coward.”

This earned Sally a derisive snort and a playful swat as Anne sat up in bed. She stretched her arms over her head with a yawn before tossing the sheets aside. “Come on. I’m sure they’d appreciate help with breakfast.”

* * *

It had started during the war. 

Well, before that, truth be told. But the war brought them each together. Lucrezia Noin and Anne Une had made no secret of their animosity, rooted so much in their own feelings for men who were more in love with their visions of themselves than they could be with someone else. And both of them had seen reports of Alliance Major Sally Po who had avoided death and capture to reappear on the side of the Earth-based resistance. But Sally’s story wasn’t unique - it mirrored so many others who had avoided death or assimilation at OZ’s hands at that time that Une and Noin each paid her little mind...until suddenly they were all on the same side again as reluctant co-combatants trying to save the human race from itself.

They stayed like that for a time. Following the end of the conflict, they came together as allies if not exactly friends. Not at first, at least. They were Preventers and had a shared mission to keep the peace. But that fragile peace was shaken again when Barton invaded Brussels.

Lu had fled Earth’s gravitational pull shortly after, escaping with Zechs to Mars in what they thought would be a new start. The Earth had the Preventers, and it seemed the Gundam Pilots could still be relied upon to do what was right if and when the time called for it. No one would miss two people, Lu had reasoned.

And in truth, they didn’t. Preventers succeeded. The Earth Sphere was at peace. Une and Po led the Preventers into a new era with Relena Darlian at their side. Years passed, and Lu eventually learned through her check-ins with friends on Earth that Une and Po were now an item. Happily in love.

But in the amount of time it took Une and Po to come to terms with their own feelings...Lu had come to realize that the man they loved would never see them as who they were, only what he expected them to be. Lu had studied Sally and Anne’s smiling faces in the pictures they sent, and the loneliness of their own unhappy relationship grew to be too much to bear. Broken-hearted and finally tired of Zechs’ self-flagellation in exile on the red planet, Lu left.

Lu had expected no fanfare upon their return to Earth and no one to greet them once they had cleared customs. They had been wrong. Just past the clouded glass doors, Lu had been greeted by both Anne and Sally. The latter had rushed to their side and slung her arms around their shoulders in a bone-crushing hug, as if the strength of her embrace could speak all the volumes of how much Lu had been missed. Anne--apparently still the most reserved of the three of them--had only offered a small smile before hooking an arm through Lu’s and leading the three of them away.

It took some time for them to get reacquainted with one another in this peaceful world and the new normal it brought, but they did. Cafes and museums and trips to the mountains. Nights out exploring the city. Nights in drinking wine or whisky and talking late into the evening, trading stories and hopes and fears. It happened gradually as with all sweet things, and then all at once. Enemies to allies to friends to lovers.

Lu remembered still the night it became real. Soft light and sweet kisses and gentle hands. A tenderness they hadn’t known before, had longed for but never realized. And the next morning they had thought the dream had come to an end. As they prepared to leave, gnawing at the inside of their cheek to keep the traitorous tears away, they thanked the women for the lovely evening and promised to not let it come between them.

“What are you talking about?” The confusion had been so painfully clear on Sally’s face.

“Last night,” Lu had said. “I don’t want you to worry about it.”

“Why would we…” Sally’s words trailed off as the pieces came together over their steaming cups of coffee. Her eyes went wide and she stood, reaching out to catch her hands. “Lu, we asked you here because we want you with us. As part of us. This wasn’t a one-night sort of thing.”

“Unless that’s what _you_ want,” Anne amended, eyes on Lu. They remembered how calm and collected she appeared, far more poised than what should have been fair. But then she stood and crossed the small distance that separated them, taking Lu’s face in her long-fingered hands. “If you don’t want this, we’ll respect that. But it has to be _your_ choice. Not what you think is the answer we’re looking for.”

“You mean that?” Lu had asked, voice barely a whisper, barely a hope. When Anne gave a solemn nod, they turned to Sally. “But I’m--”

Sally squeezed their hand and gave them a warm smile. “We take you as you are, Lu.”

Their throat had gone tight and their tears fell freely, racing down their cheeks. Acceptance. Love. What fine and beautiful things. As their breath shuddered through them, the two women took them in arms and held them close.

“You alright?”

Lu nearly jumped out of their skin, startled out of their memories and back into the present. Standing at the counter in their little cabin, knife hovering over a loaf of bread, Lu looked up to find Anne hovering in the entryway, concern etched on her face. It was only then Lu realized they were crying. “Yeah, I…” They scrubbed at their cheeks and huffed a sigh. “I’m fine. Was thinking. Remembering.”

Anne grimaced and crossed the room to their side, taking their face in her hands--so like the memory at the forefront of Lu’s mind--and planting a tender kiss to their forehead. She then cast a glance over her shoulder in the direction of the rest of the house and reached around Lu to snag the cutting board that sat discarded on the side. It was mounded high with chopped vegetables...and onions, as it happened. Anne winked at Lu and gave them another kiss on the cheek before withdrawing.

Moments later, Sally made her appearance. Towel draped across her shoulders, she used the corner to scrub at the damp ends of her hair. She too noticed Lu’s red and tear-filled eyes upon entry and echoed Une’s earlier concern. “You alright?”

Lu smirked. “Fine. Was chopping onions. Help me with the omelet?”

“Of course,” Sally said, stepping up to her and giving her a sweet kiss. “But first, coffee.”

* * *

The wooded trail was a pleasant and easy walk, despite the mid-morning shower that had started as they set out. Shielded by the towering trees on either side, they could hear and _smell_ the rain, but it did little to impede their progress as they walked. Anne was glad they had chosen to do the western ridge the previous day--they would have been entirely exposed to the elements otherwise.

Anne followed at the rear of their trio, letting her partners set the pace as they moved through the forest, twigs crunching underfoot.

When Sally had suggested the outing a few months prior, Anne had been skeptical. They had lived so long in the city, taking a trip into the woods to stay at some secluded cabin seemed like a bad setup for a horror movie. She had shared as much with her partners, but they had only laughed.

“I promise you it won’t be that bad,” Sally had assured. “I’ll make sure it has internet and running water.”

“And even if it didn’t, you remember your mountain training, don’t you?” Lu had teased with a smarmy grin.

Anne was glad she had acquiesced. They had spent months preparing for the trip--gathering necessary supplies and permits, booking the appropriate lodging, charting their course through the labyrinth of hiking trails--and now that they were here, Anne couldn’t believe she even considered being anywhere else.

She let her eyes wander as her thoughts meandered, comfortable in the now and the richness of the present moment, lulled by steady strides and sure footing. And even when she wasn’t taking in the forest’s natural beauty… _The view is certainly spectacular,_ she mused, her gaze falling on the two pert backsides in front of her. She pressed her lips into a thin line to keep from laughing. 

As the narrow trail widened, the three of them fell into step with one another, side-by-side. “So where’s this lake you promised us?” Anne asked. 

“Up ahead,” Lu answered. “Promise.”

Anne smiled to herself. Although the tree cover was appreciated, the lake had been the selling point for this particular trail as they had been reviewing their options over breakfast. Guidebooks and hiking communities had all recommended it, and being the off-season perhaps they’d have the blue expanse to themselves. Anne could only hope as much. They had been devoid of other human contact since leaving the city and it had been...nice, to relax in the company of just her partners. To not have to play the role of anyone but herself, with all her quirks which she otherwise kept carefully tucked away and out of sight.

Her relationship with Sally had brought more of those quirks to the fore and helped her become comfortable in her own skin, something for which she’d be eternally grateful. But their relationship with Lu had only made the three of them stronger. Anne and Sally had been happy together just the two of them for a time. The thought that something had been missing all along hadn’t occurred to either of them until Lu returned to Earth. Suddenly it was as if a puzzle piece long disregarded as lost to time had slotted into place. At first, Anne had said nothing of it. But the more time they spent with Lu the more it became clear to her and Sally both that they had a chance to feel complete...and bring that love to someone who deserved it more than most.

With Lu’s inclusion, they had become the triumvirate, the triad, the three musketeers...stable and supported and loved beyond what Anne could have ever possibly imagined five, ten, fifteen years prior. It felt like the three of them had been circling some gravity well, falling ever closer until they collided. And they had collided, in beautiful fashion. 

Anne inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of pine and decaying wood but sensed something brighter. Up ahead, the trees thinned and the path curved off to the right in a wide fork.

Off to her side, Lu hummed happily. “See? Told you,” they said, guiding the three of them around the bend which opened up onto a glacier-smoothed outcropping that overlooked a crystalline lake nestled among the mountain ridges. The water sparkled turquoise as the clouds from early in the morning drifted away, leaving blue sky in their wake. Some intrepid soul had mounted a wooden dock that stretched out from the stone apron over the water. 

It was… “Perfect,” Anne murmured, enthralled at the sight. She walked away from her companions and over to the dock. Testing its strength with her booted foot, she found it sturdy and clearly well-maintained, possibly even by the owner of their cabin. Striding out on its painted surface, she tossed a glance over her shoulder to find the other two watching her. “Anyone fancy a swim?” she asked, already sliding out of her boots.

* * *

Sally munched on an apple as her partners traded some good natured teasing on the blanket across from her, Lu’s head pillowed in Anne’s lap. Toweled dry and bundled up once more in their hiking clothes, they sat together on the sun-warmed rock of the lake’s bank. The sun had started to dip below the western ridge, which meant they’d need to start heading back before too much longer, but she was reluctant to leave just yet. Casting her gaze out over the lake and out across the peaks beyond, she wondered if this was what infinity felt like. Calm, quiet, restful. She smiled to herself and sighed deeply, tilting her head back to soak in the fading sunlight. “I could stay here forever,” she muttered, leaning back on her hands.

“If only,” Anne said, sounding disappointed.

“I think I’d miss people too much,” Lu admitted, eyes closed as Anne swept her fingers through their dark hair. “I think I’ll keep this as an occasional, pleasant escape. As much as I want to see Sally in plaid.”

“Hey, I’d look great in plaid,” Sally protested. “Give off all those lesbian lumberjack vibes.”

“Oh come on. You know your real motivation for staying out here forever is just to have any opportunity to become a cryptid.”

Sally snorted. “That...may be true.” Dropping her head, she looked at her partners and felt her heart thudding in her chest. When did the three of them get so soft, so tender? She couldn’t remember. It had happened while they laughed and joked with one another, shared secrets with and trusted one another, showered each other with affection and dedication they had longed for for so long. And here it was, as if it had always been there. It hadn’t, she knew, but she had a sneaking suspicion it _would be_ henceforth.

“I love you two, you know,” she said. Lu and Anne looked up, each of them catching her eye and seeming startled by the openness of her confession. “A lot,” Sally added, feeling the heat in her chest creep up and color her cheeks.

She watched Lu and Anne exchange a playful look before the former sat upright and they moved to join her on the other side of the blanket. “We love you too Sally,” Lu said while Anne dropped a kiss to her temple. Arms wrapped around each other, they watched the sun dip below the ridges and kiss the lake’s surface one final time before disappearing.

* * *

The campfire crackled, flames licking at the dry wood as sparks drifted in the darkness above. The heat radiated up from the metal ring that shielded the embers and ash below and despite the mild weather, Lu drew the blanket tighter around their narrow shoulders. Something about fires always instilled a sense of chill even when there was none, a false promise of a cold night. An old memory from their childhood perhaps, spent in the Italian countryside.

The three of them sat around the fire sipping tea from earthen mugs as the night grew late, as comfortable in their shared silences as they were swapping ghost stories and crude jokes. For now, they were silent as they watched the flames dance while Sally poked at the burning logs with a stick.

“I’m really glad we did this,” Anne said, breaking the quiet that had settled.

“No horror movie setup?” Lu asked, teasing.

Anne smirked. “Don’t jinx it. We still have a few more nights here.” They chuckled, sharing in the joke, before Anne continued, “I’m serious though. I’m glad we did this. I want to do this again. All three of us. It feels like...I can just be myself.”

Anne’s gray eyes met Lu’s across the fire pit and they smiled. “I know what you mean,” they said before turning to Sally. “Let’s do it. Make it a habit.” 

Sally grinned. “I like the sound of that.”

_____

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